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MANILA, Philippines—Cause oriented groups urged the Supreme Court to consider the public’s call for the creation of a special division in the Sandiganbayan to exclusively hear the cases involving the billion-peso misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
In a petition to the Supreme Court, the Alternative Law Groups through its National Coordinator Atty. Marlon Manuel and Transparency and Accountability Network through Executive Director Vincent Lazatin said the creation of a special division will allow the court to hear, try and decide the case with dispatch.
They said marathon hearings can be conducted and other measures can be adopted for a speedy resolution of the cases.
“Without a special division dedicated to the PDAF cases, we are afraid that the justice system, and the country will miss the historic opportunity to effectively and efficiently exercise and implement the accountability measures that are in place under our Constitution and laws,” they said in their petition.
As proof of the public’s call for the creation of the Sandiganbayan Special Division, petitioners attached an online petition if they are in favor of creating a Sandiganbayan Special Division.
The petition gathered over 3,000 signatures in less than three days.
The petition came after the Office of the Ombudsman made a request for the Supreme Court to create two Special Divisions to exclusively handle the cases related to the pork barrel scam due to the complexity of issues involved.
The Sandiganbayan is handling the plunder cases against Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and many others.
The high court has asked all parties involved to give their position on the proposal.
According to its Information Chief Theodore Te, the Court “will consider all the submissions once it resolves the Ombudsman’s request.”
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